NM-AIST through CREATES has been declared a winner of a project titled: “Epidemiological Surveillance for Infectious Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa (ESIDA)” under the Germany Ministry of Education (BMBF). This project aims at exploring and designing approaches for data-driven health information systems by pooling skills, methods and data objects from different research disciplines.

The project will build on research and collaboration networks between Germany and African partners to develop joint strategies on early detection of Infectious Diseases outbreak and response in Tanzania. The anticipated outcome is a pre-prototype electronic health information system that aims to strengthen local epidemiological surveillance and help alert local public health actors at an early stage of an outbreak. In the long term, the health information system could be extended to the East African Community member states.